Journal-box lubricator



No. 6|6,8|2. Y Patented Dec. 27, 1398.

B. M. STEELE.

JOURNAL BOX LUBRICATDR.

(Application filed July 3, 1894.) ("9 Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

No. 616,812. Patented Deer-27,1898

. B. m. STEELE.

4 JOURNAL BOX LUBRICATOR.

(App ea non y v N 0 M 0 d e l.) 2 Sheets'-Sheet 2lk\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\w UNITE STATES BENJAMIN M. STEELE,

PATENT OFFICE.

or PEoRIA, ILLINOIS.

JOURNAL-BOX LUBRICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 616,812, dated December27, 1898.

Application filed July 3. 1894. Serial No. 516,415. (No model.) i

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN M. STEELE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Peoria, in the county of Peoria and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Journal-Box Lubricators,of which the following is a specification.

The invention hereinafter described relates to improvements injournal-box lubricators and is shown as embodied in a form suitable foruse as a car-axle lubricator.

Prior to my invention, in so far as known to me, there has not been anyautomatic lubricators of the class which feed from below upward in whichthe lubricator was formed, as is my improvement, of flexible bristles orfilaments of some length fixed or pressed together at their lower endsonly, whereby the bristles above their lower fixed ends would be free toadapt themselves to journals .of different diameters, to journals havingannularfianges thereon or of different forms in other respects, withouthaving any grooves or slits cut or otherwise formed in the lubricator,and, further, be free to automatically adjust their upper ends in thebest practical working manner to the journal and to slightly vibrateamong each other, whereby their oilfeeding capacity is increased and bymeans of which they will to a great extent prevent dirt, cinders, orsediment, except the heavier kind, from settling downwardly among thebristles and obstructing the free passage of the oil upwardly to thejournal, and such heavier portions of such sediment will by their owngravity work downwardly between and outwardly through the bristles andsettle to I the bottom of the oil-supply, while the lighter portionswill be discharged outwardly over the upper ends of the bristles anddrop there= from or run down the outside of the brush feeder orlubricator and also settle to the bottom of the oil-supply.

The object of my invention is to provide a lubricator embodying theimprovements over the prior art above specified, whereby the lubricationof the journal may be rendered more effective, the lasting capacity ofthe lubricator increased, the quantity of oil used be diminished to aminimum, and a lubricator provided which experience has shown willoperate on the axle-journal of a locomotive in daily use on a railroadnearly a year without appreciable wear of said lubricator.

The different novel constructions and combinations which have beenevolved in carry ing out the objects of my invention, the collective andseparate operations of the parts comprised in the invention, the newmode of operation, and new and useful results arising therefrom arehereinafter described, and the new constructions and combinations madethe subject-mat ter of claims hereto appended.

In the accompanying drawings all my improvements are shown asconstructed and embodied in the best way now known to me. Obviously,however, while still within the purview of my invention some or all ofthe parts may differ in their construction, in their organization, andin their disposition for coaction from what I have shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of acar axle box or journal-box and side elevation of the end of the axleand of the oil-feeder or lubricant-feeder in line 1 1 in Fig. 2; Fig. 2,a sectional elevation in the line 2 2 in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a perspectiveof the auxiliary box shown at Figs. 1 and 2 for carrying the oil andoil-feeder; Fig. 4, a sectional elevation in same plane as Fig. 2, butshowing different means for mounting the oiLfeeder from that shown atFig. 2 Fig. 5, a top plan of the oil-feeder and the plate on which it ismounted, as shown at Fig. 4; Fig. 6, a sectional elevation in same planeas Fig. 2, showing another modification of the means used for mountingthe oil-feeder in the journal-box.

The drawings show a journal-box A, with lid to and bearing-brass a, ofone of the many feeder B is in the form of a brush and is formed ofbristles or stiff hairs, which will support themselves in an uprightposition, which are elastic or flexible and will quickly spring back totheir normal position when bent therefrom, and which are not permeableby the lubricant or oil a Apreferable way of securing the bristles toform the brush is by clamping them at their lower ends between plates 1)by means of through-bolts b. The plates or clamps b have outwardly-projecting sides or flanges b The lower ends of the bristles are preferablyseared with ahot iron to unite them and prevent the withdrawal of themseparately from the brush. The bristles may be otherwise'united to eachother and may be otherwise clamped collectively together, if preferred,the onlyobject of this part of my invention being to fix and hold thebristles firmly together at theirlower ends and so as to leave all theirmain body portions and upper portions free to flex, vibrate, andotherwise operate, as hereinafter described. A preferred way of mountingthe brush or oil-feeder B in the box is by sliding one of the flanges bbeneath a guardplate 0 which is fixed to thebottom of the box 0, andsecuring the other flange b by turn-buttons c, as shown at Fig.

The auxiliary oil-box G is preferably held in place by seating itclosely against the sides of the journal-box, as shown at Fig. 2, andthe bristles projecting upwardly from its bottom and through the slot 0preferably do not touch the sides of said slot, and hence supportthemselves and are free to have vibratory movements imparted to them bytheir resiliency and by the action of the rotary axle, the lower part ofthe perimeter of which rests somewhat below the upper ends of thebristles, which, by the action of the axle in backing and goingforwardly, will be separated and in operation remain in about the normalpositions shown at same figure.

The oil carried in the auxiliary box 0 is by the brush carried upwardlyto the journal or axle a by capillary attraction and by the vibratorymovements of the bristles in reference to each other, imparted to thebristles by the frictional contact of the rotating axle therewith and bytheir own resiliency. The sunken upper surface of the lid 0 will retainthe dirt or debris of any kind falling thereon, and such objectionablematerial fallingamong the bristles can and will, the heavier portions ofit, work downwardly and outwardly between the separate bristles by itsown gravity and settle to the bottom of the oil; but the lighteraudgreater portion of such dirt, sediment, or debris will be wiped from theaxle or journal by the brush and will fall over the upper outer ends ofthe bristles or pass down their outer sides to the oil-supply and settleto the bottom thereof. I have found by the practical use of this devicethat the oil in passing upwardly between the bristles will be fed to thesurface of the car-journal entirely free from sediment of any kind, andhence entirely free from all such sediment as accumulates on the uppersurface of the ordinary waste used below the car-journal, and also onthe upper surface of felt oil-feeders, and adhering to the journal iscarried around by its rotations and not only rapidly wears away thebrasses or bearings, but causes heating, and which sediment will also befed to instead of kept away from the journal by a brush located in asubstantially horizontal position. I have also found by practicalexperience that it will operate well when the oil-box O is full or aboutfull to its lid, and also until the oil is lowered in the box to aboutthe tops of the clamp-plates b. The oil can be supplied to the oil-box Cbefore or after it is seated in the journal-box. The lid 0 should beremoved from the oil-box O to remove the oil-box from the'journal-box orto replace it therein.

The oil-box C may be dispensed with and the brush feeder orlubricator beheld in place by mounting it on a base-plate D, (see'Fig. 6,) in thesame manner that it is mounted on the bottom of the auxiliary box 0, andwhich will be understood more certainly by the use of the samereference-letters to the same parts at Fig. 6 as at Figs. 1 and 2. Theplate D, is preferably fixed in place by the wooden wedge cl, forcedinto place between the plate D and the side of the journal-box. Theplate D if made of metal one-half inch or thereabout in thickness, willby its own gravity be held in position, or it may be held in position byhinging the plate D to a smaller plate cl, as shown at Figs. 4 and 5,the hinge-pin (1 being shown by dot lines at Fig. 5. In placing-theplates D and cl in the bottom of the journalbox they are turned at anangle to each other, as shown by dot lines at Fig. 4, until their sidescontact the bottom of the journal-box, and then forced down until theylie in the same plane on the bottom of the journal-box, and are thereheld by the thrust of their opposite sides against the opposite sides ofthe journal-box.

It will be evident that the brush oil-feeder or lubricator may beconstructed in difierent ways and may be mounted in the join-nah box indifferent ways to have the same function or produce the same results aswhen 0011- strueted and mounted in the journal-box as hereinbeforedescribed, and that in all such cases itwill have the same new mode ofoperation--that is, it will raise the oil or feed it upwardly from thesource of supply by means of capillary attraction and by means of thevibratory motions of the separate bristles and by means of the limitedend long reciprocating movements of their upper portions above theplates 1) with reference to each other, and which are permitted by andarise mainly from the changes in their curvature in operation, and willby means of its long ends formed of separate flexible interactingbristles adapt itself to journals of different diameters, differentforms, and with annular ribs or flanges thereon, be free toautomatically adjust the upper ends of the bristles to the journal inthe best working manner and to slightly vibrate among each other toincrease their oil-feeding capacity and their capacity to discharge agreater portion of the dirt and other sediment outwardly over theirends.

I desire it understood that I consider my invention as not limited tothe construction of the brush, nor to the manner shown of mounting it inthe journal-box, both of which are novel, to the best of my knowledge,and both of which I claim; but I consider the scope of my invention ascovering the bristle, brush feeder, or lubricator mounted or fixed atits lower end or base in the journal-box, arranged to operate beneaththe axle, all of its upper or main portion without sidesupport to permitof the movements hereinbefore described and formed of self-lubricatingelastic bristles or other material having same mode of operation withsame results.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a journal-box lubricator, and in combination, a journal-box, anaxle, a brush oilfeeder located below the axle, and base-fastenings formounting and fixing said brush at its lower end only, in the lower partof the journal-box, and with its upper end in contact with the axle,said brush being composed of bristles which are self-supporting abovesaid base-fastenings at their lower ends, sub stantially as described.

2. In a journal-box lubricator, and in combination substantially as'hereinbefore described, a journal-box, an axle, a base-plate, and abrush feeder located below said axle with its upper end portion incontact with said axle and its lower end part in the lower part of thejournal-box, said brush being -formed of bristles, secured in thejournal-box and held in brush form by clamp-plates at its lower end partonly, which clamp-plates are fixed to the base-plate.

3. In a journal-box lubricator, and in combination substantially ashereinbefore described, a journal-box, an axle, an auxiliary oil-box, abrush or oil-feeder located below the axle, and formed of bristles whichare selfsupporting above their lower ends or basefastenings, and meansfor securing said brush at its lower end only to the bottom of saidauxiliary box and holding the brush with the upper end of the bristlesin contact with the axle.

4:- In a journal-box lubricator, and in combination substantially ashereinbefore described, a journal-box, an axle, an auxiliarysecured toeach side and the lower end of said brush and provided with flanges, anda baseplate having a ledge overlapping one of said flanges, andturn-buttons for overlapping its other side and fixing the brush oroil-feeder in an upright position.

6. In a journal-box lubricator, and in combination substantially ashereinbefore described, a journal-box, an axle, abrush or oilfeederformed of bristles, a base-plate formed in two parts hinged to eachother, and means for securing the lower end of the brush to one of theparts of which the base-plate is composed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BENJAMIN M. STEELE.

Witnesses:

GEO. W. LYON, J. M. WELLs.

